


Anthropologist's Report: On The Cultural Ramifications of an Alternate Form

by dragonofdispair



Series: Roads [30]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-01
Updated: 2008-05-01
Packaged: 2018-02-26 18:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2662202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonofdispair/pseuds/dragonofdispair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Be polite to trucks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anthropologist's Report: On The Cultural Ramifications of an Alternate Form

The habits, traditions and courtesies surrounding the use of alt forms by the transformer species as a whole are complex.

Transformer alternate forms were not initially for disguise. Why would they be? They have no need for cars themselves, so if you were a a transformer and saw a car/truck/tank/plane you knew it was another transformer. Routine identify friend/foe transmissions usually even told you who the alt form was.

Considering this, the Decepticons Blackout and Starscream's careful and successful impersonation of our military craft indicates that they've had practice -- against at least one other alien species that use vehicles they could impersonate. But that's a different tangent.

Just because they weren't disguises, does not mean that alternate forms were useless. No, they were to travel faster, haul more weight, do things and go places they couldn't in their primary forms. They were also a means of creating emotional distance.

Transformers in their primary forms display their emotions through facial expressions and body language that their alt forms cannot produce. So on an interpersonal level, their alternate forms are for hiding their emotions -- not that they're feeling something, but what exactly they're feeling -- equivalent to a human turning his or her back on someone or just walking away.

So since the transformer in his alt form is trying to deal with some intense -- probably negative -- emotions, it would be very impolite to intrude unless you are part of that transformer's family unit. Transformer to transformer it's considered polite to pretend the one in his alt form isn't there -- giving him the emotional distance he wants.

This is where the habit habit of recharging (equivalent to sleeping) in their alt forms came from, even when they're on the base where they could rest in their primary forms if they wanted -- a sort of implied "don't bother me". But this habit is very recent, adopted only since coming to Earth.

Further back, things got a bit mixed up when they left Cybertron and first started using their alt forms for disguise. They found that the idea of vehicles that talked was in general more upsetting than giant robots. So since, even among organics that knew about them, talking cars were unnerving, they adopted the practice of allowing the organic to choose to acknowledge them, or not.

On the issue of politeness: between a transformer in his alt form and an organic, the transformer is being polite by remaining unresponsive until the organic acknowledges him. Between two transformers, the one not in his alt form doesn't acknowledge the other because he is being polite and allowing the other his emotional distance.

How to tell the difference between a mech that's recharging, one that wants to be left alone, and one that's in disguise takes some practice. Mostly it's a matter of where they are. Around the base, or anyplace they're freely allowed to be in primary form, they're either recharging or wish to be left alone. Where they're in places where the disguise is necessary, all three are possible and if you approach and they aren't in the mood for company they'll tell you, and most won't take offense for the mistake.

All of this brings up one issue with Scorponok though: Scorponok doesn't have an alternate form.

This means that in some ways he's improperly socialized -- even beyond having been a Decepticon until recently and being a drone. I don't think any of the Autobots realize that this is why he sometimes acts the way he does. He's pushing the boundries, trying to see where he fits in to his new culture (and remember that despite a common starting point, the Autobot/Decepticon War had been going on long enough that they are different cultures). He especially wants to know where the line for misbehavior and punishment it.

The example that applies to the Autobots' concepts of privacy when in alt form is that Scorponok harasses the other Autobots whether they're in their alt forms or not, which is a very impolite thing for another transformer to do. But, because he himself doesn't have an alt form, and among the Decepticons would have likely been punished for bothering a mech whether he was in his alt form or not, Scorponok doesn't realize the social breach he committing by bothering the Autobots in their alt form.

However, Scorponok's relationships with the other Autobots are best dealt with by them. Just remember that we as humans shouldn't take our cues from him, because he's still trying to figure out where he fits in.

  
end report

  
Addition to the "Soldier's Guide to Alien Interaction", a supposedly unofficial 'zine given to every new recruit at the main anti-Decepticon base:

  
"Don't bug them when they're not robots. Seriously, they like being robots and mostly hang out as robots wherever they're allowed. So when they're car's or trucks or planes, they're probably sleeping. Or they really want to be left alone. You don't want anyone bugging you while you're sleeping, so don't bug them while they're sleeping. And you thought your cranky bunkmate was a chore to deal with -- at least your bunkmate can't step on you. And if they're sulking, you really don't want to bug them, 'cause they're probably mad or something, and they really are big enough to step on you and are already cranky.

And whatever you do, don't think 'just because the scorpion-bot can do it, so can I'. 'Cause really, he's special. Yeah, he's small enough that the others can step on him if they wanted, but, really, he's got privileges we don't."

  
fini


End file.
